School employee keeps job after BOE vote

CAIRO, N.Y. – A beloved school employee’s resignation letter was rejected during a board of education meeting Thursday night.

John Hull has been a maintenance worker for the Cairo-Durham School District for nearly 13 years, but his job was on the line Thursday as the school board voted on what many called a forced resignation.

Hull was recently accused of being a bad employee. He said he was called into a closed-door meeting with the district and was told recent incidents were causing the district to ask for his resignation.

“They bullied me,” Hull said.

Hull said he was accused of being in a bus accident in Albany.

“It was not me,” he claimed. “Somebody had their wires crossed, and they were trying to blame it on me.”

He also said he was accused of putting a dent in a school van.

“When I shut it, it didn’t latch,” he explained. “I hit it with my hip. I said, ‘I’ll take care of that.’”

Hull said he had the dent fixed at no cost to the district. He was also accused of taking a projector home without permission.

Hull admitted he should have asked permission but said he borrowed the projector so his wife could trace a pattern on the wall of their soon-to-be granddaughter.

“I brought it home. My wife used it. I took it back the next day,” he said.

Superintendent Mary Fassett recommended the board accept Hull’s resignation. She would not speak to any of the reasons Hull said he was forced to resign.

“I really can’t,” she said. “I cannot respond. It is a personnel issue.”

The board ultimately rejected Hull’s resignation in a vote of 5-3.

Board member Robert Criswell voted to accept the resignation saying it was the end result of a process he supported.

“The result of that process was the recommendation that came,” he said. “I felt I was part of that process; and therefore, needed to support that recommendation.”

Hull said he is delighted to continue working for the district.

“I love it here,” he said. “I love working. I love working with people. I love working with the students. So I can do my job and everything will be alright.”

Board president Susan Kusminsky and board member Beth Daly were the other two people to accept the resignation. Kusminsky declined to comment, and Daly left the meeting before she could be approached for comment.